November 23, 2007

Pop

Burst.com
has three employees. Last year it lost a half million dollars. It could afford
to, because in 2005, Microsoft paid Burst.com $60 million for license to its
streaming media patents. Apple fought, not entirely unsuccessfully, but just
settled for $10 million. Burst.com is now beavering for who to badger next.

Posted by Patent Hawk at November 23, 2007 10:43 PM
| Patents In Business

Comments

The sad part is Microsoft and Apple will both probably go out of business because of this. Can't we just do away with patents entirely, so that everyone can just develop technology as they see fit and as the market demands? I hate the fact that certain individuals seem to get "exclusive" government-sponsored monopolies for "limited times" just because they believe (and the government agrees) they came up with something first.

Who ever came up with such a silly "limited times" idea anyway, and what were they trying to promote by such foolishness? Obviously it isn't working, and it is hindering true innovators like Microsoft (and Apple who Microsoft would like to sue) from ushering in the 22nd century in operating systems.

Those same folks who prefer "limited times" would probably have preferred XP Pro over Vista....

Posted by: NIPRA anonymous at November 24, 2007 4:52 AM

Hey, NIPRA anonymous

What kind of weed do you smoke ?

You are already at the level of Slashdot - almost braindead

Stop it, dude, seriously
Seek some professional advice if you can't

Posted by: angry dude at November 24, 2007 5:34 PM

"almost braindead"

Almost, angry dude? Well, thank you for the compliment implying I showed signs of at least some cerebral activity. But in actuality, alas, I was able to write the above comment without firing even one single neuron. (I was attempting to mimic the reasoning of the anti-patent crowd, you know, to try to experience how the other side lives.)

Perhaps I should have put {sarcasm} and {/sarcasm} tags around the message.

It is me who is going nuts here
I didn't realize that this is not a Slashdot after all

Hope you forgive my momentary loss of common sense: after being issued a US patent last year I am getting more and more angry every day

The thing is: I am a simple guy ant take things at face value

They promised me "exclusive right" for disclosing my invention in patent application, so I did just that...

Then we had Ebay, KSR, Seagate and god-damn "patent reform"...

For Christ's sake, why don't we just get rid of the entire patent system altogether ?

Posted by: angry dude at November 24, 2007 8:14 PM

Gentlemen,

Please. This is a professional webblog. Decorum must be preserved. To wit: goddamn is not a hyphenated word. The word has been around since 1640. Get with the 17th century, angry dude.

P.S. To angry dude: All negative emotions, especially anger, are best felt and regarded as poison. If it's motivation you need, try greed. If the sound in your soul is James Brown's "Payback," get back from the 17th century (when the suppressed English clergyman wimp George Herbert uttered "Living well is the best revenge"), and remember the hoary Klingon axiom "Revenge is the best revenge."

And you seem to misunderstand the motivation of independent inventors: it's certainly not greed
How about "Fairness" for all players, large and small ?

Also, as a naturalized citizen of this great country I take issues with US Constitution and stuff like that...
Again, greed is not a motive
If they decide to abolish US patent system tomorrow I will be the fist to vote for it

Keep up the good work with your blog

Posted by: angry dude at November 24, 2007 10:37 PM

angry dude,

I cast no aspiration on greed conceptually, though my statement was partly tongue in cheek. Greed is an abundance of the most basic desire. However the devote Buddhist may see through desire, it is the only net that catches a truly aware being from the spiritual vacuum of existentialism.

I agree,we should throw out the patent system, as it pertains to technology patents.

ALL software should be open sourced, thus generating new business for everyone.

The idea that software code can be patented is astonishingly ludicrous.

Posted by: NoMorePatents at December 1, 2007 7:06 PM

To NoMorePatents -
Throwing out the patent system as it pertains to technology patents would be throwing out utility patents, all of which pertain to technology.

It is not apparent how making all software being open sourced would be good business. It would seem if that were the case, it would have been already done. The idea of making all software open sourced thus appears novel. Perhaps you should file a patent on it.